Lexi Renolds, my granddaughter, has been going to Home Depot Days on the first Saturday of the month with her Papa, Tom Renolds since she was 3 years old. She is now 11 and attending Arroyo Seco Jr. High. Her sister, Natalie, joined them when she turned 3 as well. She is now 9 years old and attends James Foster Elementary School.
Their usual routine for Home Depot days is for Papa to pick up donuts for them on the way to their house, then head over to Home Depot early, build and paint the designated project and end the day at McDonalds for lunch with some play time. These Saturdays are a special time for my husband Tom to spend time with his two granddaughters.
The first time the girls attended their own workshop they received a junior Home Depot apron. After that, each time they attended a workshop and completed a project they received a commemorative pin featured like the DIY project they had finished. Well, Lexi had 100 plus pins and was very proud of them. Sadly, one day after the workshop her apron went missing!!!! She had left it on the table outside of Home Depot and left without it. When they realized it a short time later and went back to get it, unfortunately it was gone!
Lexi was devastated and in tears. We contacted the manager and Vanessa, the wonderful lady who runs the workshops and has done so for the past 14 years. Vanessa also was devastated and in disbelief. She promised she was going to do something about it! We kept in contact to see if anyone had turned it in, but to no avail.
A month had passed and Vanessa called to arrange a special day and time for Lexi and Natalie to come in. She said they had something special for Lexi. When we arrived at the store, Vanessa along with many of the employees all came together to hand Lexi a special custom apron with “Lexi Did It, 100 + Workshops”. The Home Depot Corporate office and other stores helped track down new workshop pins to replace the ones lost.
It just goes to show you that Home Depot is just not a place to buy building supplies, but also where special personal and emotional connections are made and a family tradition is important to the employees there as well as to our family!
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